What’s your dream cannon scene?

There’s no way I could get them all - I’m sorry if your favorite isn’t here. Please don’t yell at me.

I excluded newer shows because they haven’t been as limited about who they write as queer.

why would you pick garashir when DS9 Polycule is on here, and they are included in that????

So I was inspired by this recent post on intersex characters in the Star Wars universe to do a roundup of my own of all my intersex headcanons in Star Trek.

Some of them, like Tendi, I think have a solid basis for being intersex. Others are more just for fun. I as an ipsogender intersex person like to see intersex representation!

Let's start with DS9 because it's my favourite. 💛💜💛

Nog

At no point in DS9 is it ever explained why Nog is so much shorter than other Ferengi. And like Jean-Luc's bald head I think that is great. Normalise bodily variation. It doesn't need to be explained. People can just be.

Real life Aron Eisenberg (Nog's actor) said his growth was stunted due to a malfunctioning kidney. But in my headcanon, Nog is short due to some form of Ferengi hypogonadism. I'm thinking something like Kallman Syndrome. But Ferengi.

Julian Bashir

Trans Julian is a common headcanon. I dig it. And I say: "yes, and" to it! Intersex people can be trans too! (I have him with the ultergender flag here.)

We know young Julian had a developmental disability including learning difficulties. This is canon. Some intersex variations (usually the chromosomal variations) do have higher levels of LDs and/or slow development.

What jives for me is XXYY Syndrome - it's associated with being taller than usual, developmental delays, ADHD, and autism. Sounds to me like our dear doctor.

Elim Garak

Okay so his big titties are a meme in DS9 fandom. I have lost track of how many tumblr posts I have seen (and reblogged) about them. And Garak's build is shorter and stockier than the other Cardassian men we see.

I'm thinking he would have an intersex variation that shows up at puberty. De la Chapelle Syndrome in human men is associated with breast growth and a puberty that isn't quite like the usual testosterone puberty. So maybe a Cardassian version of that, or similar.

Phlox

Speaking of men with tiddies. Phlox comes from a very sex-positive society and I like to think it is totally nbd to be intersex there, to the point where it never crosses his mind that it could be an identity.

In my mind he's got a Denobulan equivalent of XXY (Klinefelter syndrome). XXY folks tend to have less body hair and be taller than average, and their intersex-ness tends to be less obvious (at least compared to XXYY, XYY, etc). We haven't seen that many Denobulans on-screen to gauge how his body hair compares to other Denobulan men but it seems totally plausible to me.

It also just makes me happy to envision intersex representation where the person's intersex traits are fairly subtle actually? That's pretty common for intersex people and I just wanna see more boring intersex bodies.

Jett Reno

So unless I've missed something, Reno's flat chest has not been explained in Discovery. Real life Tig Notaro had breast cancer. But this is the future! Surely breast cancer wouldn't be a thing. (Right???)

So to me that means either she had breasts and had them removed, or she never had them. Honestly in terms of probability, it's probably the former. But I like the idea she has Aromatase Deficiency, and just never developed breasts. Aromatase Deficiency is also highly correlated with osteoporosis and this also tracks with her various back/etc pains.

I've put her with the intergender flag because even with my intersex headcanon she still has strong nonbinary vibes for me. If she grew up sans breasts it's worth noting she chose to leave them that way.

D'Vana Tendi

Now here's a character where I think it's pretty clearly implied they are intersex. Tendi's on-screen reaction to whether she can use her female Orion pheromones was that "I’m not even that kind of Orion."

And when in a later episode she's asked about her female pheromones she says outright "We don't all have those!".

My interpretation is she might have an Orion equivalent of Turner Syndrome (where you only have one X chromosome). Consistent with Turner Syndrome: she is petite, she has a higher voice than other Orion women we've seen, her ears are relatively low-set. (Thank you to @urfavisintersex for the intersex Tendi flag!)

Rok-Tahk

Rok-Tahk's very introduction on ST:Prodigy is Dal mistaking her for an adult male. And sure, Dal hasn't talked to the Brikar much, but he has been around them his whole life.

So I interpret this as Rok has some sort of intersex variation that has sped up her physical growth - probably a form of hypergonadism.

So far we've only had one season of Prodigy and don't know that much about the Brikar yet so I'm not sure whether hypeestrogenism, hyperandrogenism, or Aromatase Exccess Syndrome would be the closest analogue to Brikar physiology. I think all of them seem plausible so far - again, given she is an alien and things would probably be a bit different than for humans.

Final Thoughts

My expectation is that whoever winds up being the first canonically intersex character in Trek, they're more likely to be a new character rather than a well-established one. Fingers crossed for Rok-Tahk and Tendi!

I made a point of picking specific intersex variations for all the characters above because a lot of intersex representation in fandom doesn't do this and it makes a big difference for realistic intersex representation.

If I've missed any potentially intersex characters in Trek let me know! Fun headcanons too!

Happy Trans Awareness Week! Jadzia says respect trans rights or die by her bat’leth

liking star trek is a red flag. it's also an orange flag. and a yellow flag. and a green flag. and a blue flag. and a purple flag. liking star trek is gay. YOU are GAY.

Startrek pride flag

MAGNIFICIENT

Headcanon: Tendi is Intersex

So first in S02E03 Mariner asks Tendi to use her pheromones - which previous Trek episodes have established Orion women have. Tendi replies: “I’m not even that kind of Orion.” 

And now in S03E06, the random Orion dude they meet at DS9 is like “Whoa! Easy! I’m starting to feel some of those aggressive female pheromones firing off.” And Tendi snaps back: “We don’t all have those!” I know I might be hoping for too much but I personally read these scenes as that Tendi is intersex. I’m sure there are a bunch of intersex variations that Orions could have and not having the female-pheronmones seems like a pretty plausible thing to be associated with one or more intersex variations. 

We haven’t had any intersex representation in Star Trek and not gonna lie I would love for this to be canon. As an ipsogender intersex person I especially would like to see ipsogender representation but really any representation that isn’t fetishizing would just be amazing. Tendi being intersex and it not being a big deal is a kind of future I want to see.

Entertainment Weekly, October 4 1996. 

odo is definitionally a trans man because he was assigned formless goop at birth but chooses to be male .

Hello Starred Trek people, are you gay?? Do like talking about Star Trek?? Do you also like Trans wOrms?? Of course you do this showed up on your dash didn’t it.. :) Then you’ll love the Transworm Station discord server! 

Transworm Station Link

- Obviously be respectful and considerate of others when you join unless you want me attacking you with a stick 

I know you reading this right now want to join, i know you’re thinkin about it buddy just do it the link is right there man CMON I KNOW YOU WANT TO 

[image description: the words “trans worm station” against a blue background. “trans worm” is in the colors of the trans flag, and there is a drawing of a worm on a string in between them. In the lower left are the words “Star Trek server” /end description]

@transtrek

once i saw a tag on a post which was something like “spock has a beard in discovery because he’s trans and on vulcan T, and he wanted to see how long he could grow it out for” 

and i think about this CONSTANTLY

oh i love that gay little fucker from ds9 

Announcing Still Rejoined, a Star Trek DS9 fanzine celebrating the 25th anniversary of episode “Rejoined”

Almost 25 years ago, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine aired an episode about two women falling (back) in love in complete disregard of Trill society. Celebrate with us all that is “Rejoined” and how it has impacted LGBT+ fans to this day!

We just really love those gay worms and hope you want to see more of them too! Help us spread the word about this project on wlw (worms loving worms)

[Twitter | Website]

@zine-scene @zineapps @zinefeed @zinefans @fandomzines​ @fanzinewatch​

(More details about Still Rejoined under the cut!)

Continua a leggere

I’m so glad to finally be able to tell everyone about this! We’ve been working hard setting up this zine, and we want this project to succeed!! please help us spread the word!

Good morning. Geodri La Forge is a trans man.

look at these pretty bisexuals with their bi pride coloured holodeck

Everyone needs a picture of J. G. Hertzler (Martok) holding a gay bat'leth on their dash

Chancellor Martok said gay rights, rb if u agree